Hit A Pothole In Pennsylvania? You’re Out Of Luck

Feb. 21--Pinned between a tractor-trailer and a hard place, Ryan Slicker had little choice but to slam into a large pothole on Route 30 in North Huntington.

"Between the curb and the truck, I literally had nowhere to go," said Slicker, the founder and brewmaster of Fury Brewing Co.

The January run-in with a pothole deep enough to swallow an upright water bottle cost him $900, as his 2011 Subaru Impreza WRX sustained damage to the right front and rear wheels and the front bumper.

Slicker called 1-800-FIX-ROAD to report the pothole to PennDOT, which maintains Route 30.

"(The pothole) did eventually get filled in. But the last time I saw it, it was back to the way it was before," he said. "This seems like the worst year for potholes I've ever seen."

Slicker would like the state to reimburse the cost and attempted to file a damage claim. A PennDOT customer service representative said someone would call him back.

So far, no one has.

In addition to the $900 he paid for the repairs, Slicker likely is out of luck when it comes to that reimbursement: Whether drivers can expect repayment for pothole damage depends on who maintains the road that ate their cars, with state law protecting its agencies and most municipalities as long as they aren't totally negligent.

Pennsylvania's Bureau of Risk and Insurance Management does not pay for property damages resulting from a pothole on state-owned and state-maintained roads, said spokesman Troy A. Thompson.

While motorists have a right to file a claim for personal property damage incurred due to conditions on state roads, Pennsylvania law prohibits reimbursements for damage caused by "potholes, sinkholes, and/or conditions created by the natural elements."

The state, however, will pay for any bodily injury that results from a pothole.

There were 220 claims filed with the state in 2017, 193 in 2016, 641 in 2015 and 774 claims in 2014. None received any payouts, Thompson said.

The Pennsylvania Turnpike also is immune to claims of pothole damage under a clause in the state's "sovereign immunity" rules, said Rosanne Placey, a spokeswoman with the Turnpike Commission.

A claim might be possible in cases of injury -- but only if a claimant can "establish that the dangerous condition created a reasonably foreseeable risk of the kind of injury which was incurred and that the commonwealth agency had actual written notice of the dangerous condition of the highway a sufficient time prior to the event to have taken measures to protect against the dangerous condition," the rule states.

Westmoreland County does not pay claims for damage caused by potholes on the 52 miles of roads it maintains.

"We tell people they have to go through their insurance company," said Greg McCloskey, the county's public works director.

The city of Pittsburgh will pay for damage caused by potholes -- of which people have reported more than 5,000 so far this winter.

"The standard that claimants have to meet is fairly high, in that the city has to have both 'prior notice' and failed to correct the roadway in a 'reasonable' amount of time," said Margaret Vitale, Pittsburgh's claims administrator. "Reasonable is subjective. ... If we have back-to-back snowstorms and Public Works is out plowing/salting, they can't be filling potholes at the same time. The priority is to get the roadways clear of snow/ice first, then patch the potholes."

Pittsburgh will consider paying out a claim if a pothole had been reported at the specific location where the damage occurred and the pothole had not been patched within five days of it being reported, typically.

In those circumstances, the city will pay the collision deductible or the fair market value of the damages, if they exceed the deductible amount.

Vitale offered these examples for filed claims that meet all the criteria:

--A vehicle sustains $800 in damages and the driver carries a $500 collision deductible, the city would approve the claim for $500.

--If damages are $400 and the driver has a $500 collision deductible, the city would pay $400.

"And if she doesn't carry collision coverage on the vehicle at all and has two estimates for the damage, one for $800 and one for $950, we would pay the lower estimate," Vitale said.

In 2017, Pittsburgh received 46 claims for pothole damages, with a few more pending. Officials approved 13 of those and paid a total of $4,761 for repairs. A few claims filed in December have yet to be opened and 14 cases remain open. Officials denied 19 claims.

In 2016, it received 26 pothole-related claims, approved 10 and paid $3,207. Nine were denied, seven await more information for a final decision, city officials reported.

Other municipalities are not as generous.

Monroeville officials cited the state's Political Subdivision Torts Claim Act as a reason for being shielded from such payments.

The law generally holds that unless a municipality neglects to repair a pothole or other dangerous condition it's aware of, it doesn't have to pay for any damages incurred by that condition, said Manager Timothy Little.

"As long as we go out and fix any kind of liability issue... within a few days, then if somebody hits it in the meantime, there's no liability," Little said. "If somebody hits a really bad pothole, a really bad pothole that's been there for two weeks and takes out 10 cars, then maybe a few might have a claim. If it's like that for just two or three days, I don't think a court would show negligence."

Monroeville maintains about 110 miles of municipal roads, though most of its biggest thoroughfares are the responsibility of the state or Allegheny County. Little could not recall any damage claims brought against the municipality, let alone any that were paid.

"We've had people call," he said. "A few here and there had threatened to file suit, but I've never had to go to court."